Spider-Man: No Way Home's Newest Trailer Posed Some Big Questions For Two Of Its Villains

Spider-Man 3: Homecoming sees Peter Parker clashing with Vulture, Mysterio and Spider-Man 4: Far From Home. It's been known that Electro, Jamie Foxx's superhero film debut and Alfred Molina’s Doctor Octopus will be returning in 2020. This was also confirmed by the No Way Home trailer which showed Willem Dafoe as the Green Goblin. After a recent report in October that they were involved, the latest No Way Home trailer confirmed their presence. It also revealed that Rhys Ifans' Lizard and Thomas Haden Church’s Sandman will appear in the sequel. However, the circumstances involving their presence are… a little confusing.

Spider-Man: No Way Home's latest trailer revealed that Doctor Strange, Benedict Cumberbatch, is revealing that the multiversal villains of Spider-Man are all destined die fighting for their version. They must then return to their reality in order to allow fate to follow its own course. The thing is, Lizard and Sandman did not die after their Spider-Man films ended. How are they still part of the group? Let's not speculate on that without first looking at their histories years back.

The place we left off with Sandman and Lizard

As Thomas Haden Church, Flint Marko of Spider-Man 3 only wanted to support his daughter's health, the comic-book version of Sandman's Spider-Man 3 was presented more sympathetically than its comic-book counterpart. He also admitted that Ben Parker had been killed accidentally. Tobey Maguire's Peter Parker however, was driven by revenge. In Spider-Man 3 the events led to Sandman joining forces with Venom in order to defeat Spider-Man. But Marko realized that Peter was one of the same and opened up about the circumstances leading to Ben's death. Peter forgave Marko. He allowed his former enemy to wander off into the unknown.

The Lizard is a reptilian antagonist in The Amazing Spider-Man. He was created by Rhys Ifans' Dr. Curt. Connors, who had tried to regrow his arm through an experiment. Injecting the drug into his brain caused Connors to lose control of his thoughts and he tried to make New York City lizard-like by spreading a chemical cloud. Gwen Stacy of Emma Stone created an antidote for Connors, which Andrew Garfield was able disperse. Connors, along with his handful victims, returned to normal. Connor was subsequently placed in prison and visited by Michael Massee's mysterious Gustav Fiers character, Connor begged him not to take Peter.

The Lizard is a reptilian antagonist in The Amazing Spider-Man. He was created by Rhys Ifans' Dr. Curt. Connors, who had tried to regrow his arm through an experiment. Injecting the drug into his brain caused Connors to lose control of his thoughts and he tried to make New York City lizard-like by spreading a chemical cloud. Gwen Stacy of Emma Stone created an antidote for Connors, which Andrew Garfield was able disperse. Connors, along with his handful victims, returned to normal. Connor was subsequently placed in prison and visited by Michael Massee's mysterious Gustav Fiers character, Connor begged him not to take Peter.

Do these look like the old versions of Sandman and Lizard?

Even though all of the Spider-Man: The Way Home villains are well-known, it doesn't necessarily mean that they will be the same as the Sam Raimi- and Marc Webb-directed films. It's possible that we are dealing with slightly altered versions of their universes. Although Lizard and Sandman don't die in Spider-Man 3 & The Amazing Spider-Man respectively, it is possible that the No Way Home versions are from alternate realities in which their stories end on fatalistic notes. It would be a reason why Electro looks more like a regular human than he does in Spider-Man 3 and The Amazing Spider-Man 3, respectively.

If so, I'm hoping Spider-Man : No Way Home can shed some light into how the versions of Sandman/Lizard differ from those we have seen previously. Although I am not asking for the movie to include 5-10 minutes worth of flashbacks or explanations, it would still be interesting to see how their deaths occurred, as well any differences in character. If Spider-Man 3's Sandman and The Amazing Spider-Man's Lizard made it out of their stories alive, where did things go wrong for their doppelgängers?

You can see Sandman and Lizard causing havoc in Spider-Man 3: No Way Home. The film opens in theatres December 17. You might want to take a look at the MCU's future by looking through the upcoming Marvel movies schedule. Also, Disney+ has a lot of past Marvel films.